The Syracuse Orange barely survived its Atlantic Coast Conference opener on Saturday. The Orange rallied late to squeak past Miami 49-44 at the Carrier Dome.

The slowdown game produced season-lows for both teams. It was the first time that Syracuse had scored less than 50 points and still won since a 49-46 overtime win at Pittsburgh in 2003-04.

Now, Syracuse has to go on the road for the first time in the ACC.

Syracuse (14-0 overall, 1-0 ACC) will take on Virginia Tech (8-5, 1-0) at 9 p.m. tonight in Blacksburg, Va. The game will be televised on the ACC Network.

Here are five things to watch for as Syracuse takes on the Hokies.

Cassell Coliseum

Syracuse fans might not be aware of how tough it is to play at Virginia Tech's Cassell Coliseum, but it might just be the best homecourt advantage in the ACC.

Now, everyone knows about Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium, but Duke is tough both home and away. So is it really Cameron Indoor that's so difficult? Or is it all those McDonald's All-Americans on Mike Krzyzewski's roster?

Virginia Tech's Cassell Coliseum is to the ACC what the Rutgers Athletic Center was to the Big East. It's a place where a mediocre team suddenly plays much better than its overall record.

In its nine years in the ACC, Virginia Tech is 65-81 in conference play. But break that down for home and away games. On the road in the ACC, Virginia Tech is 22-51 for a winning percentage of .301. At cozy Cassell Coliseum, the Hokies are 43-30 (.589) against ACC competition.

The Hokies are nearly twice as good at home as they are away from home.

Syracuse has played only once in Blacksburg, an 87-71 loss on Jan. 30, 1978. Through several scheduling quirks, Syracuse never played at Virginia Tech during the Hokies' stay in the Big East from 2000-01 to 2003-04.

Syracuse's shooting

Syracuse struggled to make shots in its win over Miami on Saturday and Virginia Tech figures to make it tough on the Orange again tonight.

Syracuse made just 36.2 percent of its field-goal attempts against Miami. That was the second-lowest percentage of the season for Syracuse, which shot 35.3 percent in a narrow win over St. Francis early in the season.

Virginia Tech is allowing its opponents to shoot just 38.2 percent from the field. That ranks fourth in the ACC. In 10 of Tech's 13 games, the Hokies have held their opponent under 40 percent shooting. Only one team has shot better than 50 percent from the field against Virginia Tech this season. That was then-No. 1 ranked Michigan State.

Tyler's turnovers

Syracuse's Tyler Ennis drive to the basket on this play against Miami, but he also had seven assists and just two turnovers.Dennis Nett | dnett@syracuse.com

In Saturday's game at the Carrier Dome, Miami out-shot Syracuse from the field and from 3-point range. The rebounding numbers were essentially even. C.J. Fair went 6-for-14 from the field. Trevor Cooney made only two of his 12 3-point attempts.

So how did Syracuse win?

Well, in addition to a sizeable edge at the free-throw line (SU made 12 free throws to Miami's 3), Syracuse valued the ball. While Miami turned the ball over 15 times, Syracuse committed just seven turnovers.

Much of the credit for Syracuse's ball-handling goes to Tyler Ennis. The freshman point guard played 39 minutes against Miami. He finished with 10 points, seven assists and just two turnovers.

Actually, two turnovers is a lot for Ennis. He was averaging just 1.1 per game entering the Miami contest. His updated assist-to-turnover ratio (4.5 to 1) ranks second in the ACC to Pitt's James Robinson.

How Ennis plays in his first ACC road game will be a key for the Orange.

Virginia Tech's shooters

Marshall Wood is one of five Virginia Tech players making more than 40 percent of their 3-point attempts.Matt Gentry | The Associated Press

The Hokies lead the ACC in 3-point shooting, making 42.5 percent of their threes as a team. Syracuse is holding its opponents to 33.2 percent shooting from beyond the arc this season.

Virginia Tech's Jarell Eddie is one of the ACC's top 3-point shooters. He's making 47.2 percent of his 3-point attempts this season, but he's just one of five Virginia Tech players who are shooting 40 percent or better and have taken at least two 3-pointers per game.

Eddie leads the Hokies in 3-point attempts (89), but he's played in all 13 of Tech's games. Emelogu has taken 47 3-pointers this season, while Smith has attempted 45. Those two have played in just 10 games apiece, so they're taking at least four a game.

Past New Years, but still Christmas time

In the two games that Dajuan Coleman has missed due to a knee injury, Syracuse forward Rakeem Christmas has moved to the starting center spot and contributed greatly in wins over Eastern Michigan and Miami.

Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim has been getting good production out of Rakeem Christmas in recent games.Dennis Nett | dnett@syracuse.com

Christmas equaled his career-high with 15 points on 7-for-8 shooting against Eastern Michigan on New Year's Eve.

But Christmas kept going past New Year's as he came up big in SU's ACC opener against Miami. A close, low-scoring game, Christmas scored eight points, grabbed seven rebounds and had a few big defensive stops. His offensive putback helped key Syracuse's comeback from a 5-point deficit late in the game.

Christmas also went 2-for-2 from the foul line. He's making 71.4 percent of his free throws this season.

Christmas was averaging just 4.9 points through SU's first 12 games. If he can become a more consistent offensive threat, it would help create openings for Ennis, C.J. Fair and Jerami Grant.